If those floorboards were up before the morning tea break, the diary could have been in the Saddle - courtesy of the electrician who lived just down the road - when Mike turned up for his daily beer rations before collecting Caroline from the primary school opposite.

I thought they took it to a random Liverpool university building first? How long did it take for them to ring up a random department in any number of random university-affiliated buildings across town and set up a random meeting with a random member of staff? Apparently, these details are lost to the sands of time. Funny, that.

Haha, cheers, Sam. No chance! It was very uneventful, tbh. While it was interesting to see the players, etc, I was mostly bored by it all, a friend I was with seemed to enjoy it, though.

Hi Mike,

Keith Skinner looked out for you at the conference, expecting you to say hello and challenge him on all sorts. He even checked the attendees list with no luck and came away assuming you didn't book your place after all.

Of course, he was also assuming your username was your real name, which is not necessarily the case. So were you just too shy to speak to him when you had the chance? It's a great pity because you could have cleared up some issues with the man himself and shared the results with us here on your return.

Love,

Caz
X

__________________"Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious." Peter Ustinov

Nah, it's mainly an obvious conclusion based on the lack of other contenders and the fact that the entire saga is riddled with inconsistencies and silliness, coupled with the fact that Mike actually got hold of a Victorian diary and was clearly the type to want to get involved in something like that in order to acquire some type of fame, and money, that he wasn't getting in his regular work as a bit-writer.

So would you concede that if, for argument's sake, Mike didn't have anything to do with creating the diary, but was shown it by someone else, he was just the kind of person who'd want to 'get involved' with something like that 'in order to acquire some type of fame, and money', that he wasn't getting as a house husband in March 1992?

Quote:

Considering all of the coincidences you're willing to gobble down in order to have the diary be an older hoax...

Sorry, Mike, but could you describe one or two of these 'coincidences' I'd have had to 'gobble down' if I wanted to believe it was an older hoax?

As I've said on many an occasion, the handwriting arguments apply as much to all the named modern players as they do to Maybrick. It's hardly a huge leap of faith to speculate [which is par for the course around here and all any of us can do without proof] that if the diary was not penned in the late 19th century, it might not have been penned circa 1992 by anyone in Mike's creative writing circle either.

Love,

Caz
X

__________________"Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious." Peter Ustinov

"Some fella told me it was known as the Post House, but I don't think I can tell you his name or anything about him, but trust me, he was legit!"

And the beat goes on.

If you need to lie, Mike, may I suggest you take a step back and work out why?

I've already told you the name of the extremely nice, local pub history buff who indicated to me where the Liverpool posthouse was, and I've already told you that the former landlord of Rigby's in Dale Street indicated the same building to Robert Smith when he was there back in the 90s. Neither of them directed us to the tiny Poste House in Cumberland Street, even though this is much nearer to Rigby's than the Old Post Office.

Love,

Caz
X

__________________"Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious." Peter Ustinov

I thought they took it to a random Liverpool university building first?

Did you, Mike? Why's that then? Besides, I thought you didn't believe in any such visit.

Quote:

How long did it take for them to ring up a random department in any number of random university-affiliated buildings across town and set up a random meeting with a random member of staff? Apparently, these details are lost to the sands of time. Funny, that.

I have no idea. Not sure why you're asking me, as I don't think any such visit - if it happened as Arthur Rigby described - could have taken place during a tea break or lunch hour on floorboards day. He was working in the house for 8 hours.

Love,

Caz
X

__________________"Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious." Peter Ustinov

Keith Skinner looked out for you at the conference, expecting you to say hello and challenge him on all sorts. He even checked the attendees list with no luck and came away assuming you didn't book your place after all.

Of course, he was also assuming your username was your real name, which is not necessarily the case. So were you just too shy to speak to him when you had the chance? It's a great pity because you could have cleared up some issues with the man himself and shared the results with us here on your return.

Love,

Caz
X

No, mate. As I say, I was in a bit of a hurry as I actually have a life to lead! lol. I'm a busy man, Caz. I didn't have time to "challenge" an old bloke about his hobbies. I probably wasn't on the list because I bought my ticket on the day and went with David Upton, a man I believe you have met before. Tell Keith, if he wants a straightener or something then he's free to PM me

So would you concede that if, for argument's sake, Mike didn't have anything to do with creating the diary, but was shown it by someone else, he was just the kind of person who'd want to 'get involved' with something like that 'in order to acquire some type of fame, and money', that he wasn't getting as a house husband in March 1992?

I don't rule out the idea that Mike didn't concoct it, but I'd be very surprised if he had nothing whatsoever to do with it, very surprised. I've said this before; I believe Mike was involved to some extent.

Quote:

Originally Posted by caz

Sorry, Mike, but could you describe one or two of these 'coincidences' I'd have had to 'gobble down' if I wanted to believe it was an older hoax?

Come on, Caz, you know which coincidences I'm talking about as I've brought them up, as others have, many times before. David has brought them up many times over. For one, you were very insistent that the Poste House was actually the Tavern, and that one secret gent was privy to this knowledge, while nobody else was, you know the rest of the coincidences, so I won't go into it atm.

Quote:

Originally Posted by caz

As I've said on many an occasion, the handwriting arguments apply as much to all the named modern players as they do to Maybrick. It's hardly a huge leap of faith to speculate [which is par for the course around here and all any of us can do without proof] that if the diary was not penned in the late 19th century, it might not have been penned circa 1992 by anyone in Mike's creative writing circle either.

Love,

Caz
X

The problem with that is that there's nothing to suggest it's an older haox, but enough to suggest it's more modern in origin. If anyone has any evidence of it being older, they're more than welcome to offer it, but I shan't be holding my breath!